Why Swiss tobacco is worth its price.

Heimat works exclusively with Swiss tobacco from nine growing regions. The harvest is done by hand. Fermentation follows traditional methods. The finishing happens in our family manufacture in Steinach on Lake Constance.

The price of a pack therefore reflects much more than tobacco alone. It stands for Swiss agriculture, Swiss craftsmanship, regional processing and the high quality standards of a country that bets on origin rather than mass.

Part of the price also covers the tobacco and value-added taxes customary in Switzerland, as well as contributions to the tobacco prevention fund and to SOTA, the foundation supporting Swiss tobacco cultivation. So from every pack, a contribution flows back into Swiss growing.

Whoever buys Heimat receives not just a cigarette, but supports Swiss agriculture, traditional processing and a tobacco culture rooted here for centuries.

Tobacco tax (about 55 percent): this share corresponds to the federal tax provided by law. It combines a fixed amount per cigarette with a percentage of the retail price and is regulated identically for all cigarettes sold in Switzerland.

Value-added tax (8.1 percent): as with every consumer product in Switzerland, the regular VAT is included in the final price (as of 2026).

Tobacco prevention fund and SOTA contributions: a share defined by federal law flows into the federal tobacco prevention fund and to SOTA, the foundation supporting Swiss tobacco cultivation - and thus directly back to Swiss fields.

Tobacco raw material, manufacture, packaging (about 25 percent): all real production value is included here - cultivation, drying, fermentation, cutting, the manufacture in Steinach, filter, paper, carton, foil.

Trade margin (about 10 - 15 percent): the share that stays with the retailer or online shop covers logistics, staff, floor space and shipping.

Swiss tobacco tax is governed by the Federal Tobacco Taxation Act (TStG). It consists of a specific component (fixed amount per 1,000 cigarettes) and an ad-valorem component (percentage of retail price). The Federal Office for Customs and Border Security publishes the applicable rates regularly.

Added to this are the regular value-added tax of 8.1 percent, a contribution to the tobacco prevention fund (around 2.6 rappen per pack under federal law) and a contribution to SOTA, the Swiss Tobacco Cultivation Foundation. The latter flows directly back into supporting Swiss cultivation.

With this framework Switzerland sits in the European mid-range - lower than Germany or France, higher than the USA. For Heimat that means reliable, nationally uniform conditions.

Heimat works exclusively with Swiss tobacco from nine growing regions. Each region brings its own soils, its own climate and its own character. What wine lovers know as terroir applies to tobacco too. Origin leaves traces in the leaf.

Swiss agriculture instead of the world market. Switzerland sets high standards for cultivation, environment and quality, the plots are small and the growing season is shorter than in many classic tobacco regions. Precisely for that reason, no mass product is created here, but a natural product with origin.

Hand harvest instead of machines. The harvest happens leaf by leaf, by hand. Tobacco plants do not ripen evenly - experienced growers decide when a leaf is ready. This care creates a quality you can taste.

Time instead of acceleration. After the harvest, fermentation begins. We give the tobacco the time it needs. Bitter notes break down. Aromas develop. Character emerges. Not through additives, but through time.

Switzerland instead of outsourcing. Every processing step stays in Switzerland. Fermentation takes place traditionally in Payerne, Canton Vaud. The finishing happens in our family manufacture in Steinach on Lake Constance. Swiss wages, Swiss craftsmanship and Swiss quality standards are part of our quality promise.

Only as much as nature yields. Heimat does not produce against market forecasts, only as much tobacco as nature delivers in any given year. Every batch is part of a harvest. Every harvest part of a vintage.

Swiss wages, smaller growing areas, hand labour, regional processing and high quality standards lead to a production value clearly above that of classic export countries. The price is an expression of this quality.

A kilo of Burley from Zimbabwe trades on world markets at around CHF 3 to 4 (Rotterdam warehouse, FOB). Brazilian Virginia sits at CHF 4 to 6. Swiss Burley and Virginia, depending on quality and vintage, move between CHF 10 and CHF 18 per kilo - according to Schweizer Bauer (2017), individual top lots achieve even more.

The difference has three main causes: first, the Swiss wage level, which makes fair work in the field and the manufacture possible. Second, soil and lease costs in western Switzerland and around Lake Constance. Third, the small areas - Swiss tobacco farms usually work 1 to 3 hectares and operate in small-batch logic.

Heimat pays its growers prices that match Swiss agriculture, not the world market. That way Swiss tobacco cultivation remains economically viable and Heimat receives raw material in a quality that does not arise elsewhere in this form.

Swiss tobacco farmers received around CHF 12 to 15 per kilo of fermented tobacco in 2017, according to Schweizer Bauer. Prices have risen slightly since, especially for premium lots.

A pack of Heimat contains about 20 grams of tobacco. At a farmer price of CHF 13 per kilo, that's a tobacco value of CHF 0.26 per pack. That may sound modest - but it is the share that flows directly back into Swiss farms and makes Swiss cultivation possible.

Heimat pays its Swiss growers prices considered fair to above average in the industry. Specific amounts are commercially confidential, but the direct grower share in Heimat cigarettes is higher than in brands whose tobacco is predominantly imported.

In 2016 the average price of a 20-stick pack was around CHF 8.30. In 2020 it was CHF 8.70. Today the market moves between roughly CHF 8.40 and CHF 9.50, depending on brand and concept. Heimat Original today sits at CHF 8.40.

Raw material costs for tobacco have changed only moderately in the same period. Swiss tobacco has risen slightly in value, mainly due to higher wages and energy costs. Imported tobacco has at times even become cheaper on the world market.

The industry expects further moderate adjustments in the coming years. The EU is debating an increase in the tobacco tax minimum rates, which Switzerland traditionally follows with a certain delay. Prices between CHF 10 and CHF 12 per pack are a realistic scenario by 2030.